SAMURAI 7 KOP 3
by Prince of the Forgotten
Summary: Ichigo, Kiactu, and Naruto were just chilling on break away from the KoPs for a while when they are pulled into protecting a village from thieves. They head out to the city with a priestess, her little sister, and a rice harvester to find some backup samurai.
1. Welcome to the City

**CHAPTER ONE: FINDING THE SAMURAI PLUS**

Prince: I've always kind of liked the action and latent romance of shows set during olden times. Not to mention that this world also has tech that you wouldn't find anywhere else. I mean Kikochu is a giant robot that apparently has a family line. Plus there's something going on between that samurai apprentice and the priestess. Unfortunately, like N (3) CA (the parentheses means the N's being tripled), the boy will be transformed into a girl.

Kiactu: The pairings will be:

Kiactu/Kirara/FEM Katsushiro

Naruto/?

Ichigo/?

Prince: **Prince of the Forgotten does not own Samurai 7 nor Bleach or Naruto (Shippuden). He does however own the group that they are featured in and several AMVs on his computer, as well as the first three episodes of Samurai 7.** I will try to have new chapters for Naruto: Restart and Negito up by the end of the month.

**CHAPTER START**

It was a peaceful day in a random wheat field as a boy and a girl sat on the back of a wagon, the girl petting a creature that had extended ears and brown fur. It really looked like something that someone's offspring decided that they wanted to draw rather crudely, I might add. It seemed to be bipedal with two antennae topped off with orange balls.

A lowly farmer was out in the field picking wheat when he noticed a giant ship of what seemed to be alien design crashed into a forest a few miles off. The resulting explosion ripped through the field in a bright light, obliterating everything there in under a millisecond. It was unknown if the farmer, the girl, the boy, the two mules driving the wagon, or the strange creature, was alive from the blast. While the fire was settling on the ground, the aerial battles of the giant mecha flying over the pass grew more intense. A Merlinian seal appeared on the cannon before a laser erupted, destroying the entire row of mecha on the other side of the air.

The sword attachments on each mecha cut through the enemy, destroying the mecha and the pilot inside. As they were about to attack yet another ship, one of the enemy mecha was cut through by an unknown attack. The sky shined for a split second, showing an aerial craft of some kind with a middle aged man standing outside its cockpit. He jumped from the craft and began to freefall before drawing his sword. The blade cut through another machine (which as actually a pretty impressive feat for a blade that small) and he landed on the bridge of another. He rushed towards the enemy before cutting them down and jumping off the edge once more, landing on his plane and flying off.

"Shuroji," he called out to the pilot, "we're going to drive straight into the enemy battleship and hopefully buy some time for our allies to escape safely." The blond man (with ponytails at sixty degrees of one another) smirked for a second. "An epic battle, huh?" he asked, only for his comrade to tell him that it was all they got. "Commander, flip the pressure valves to fully open. Maximum drive on forward and we'll pulse through their armor." The man outside said nothing as the craft rode off to crash into the ship. Thousands of explosions could be seen afterwards.

Scenes of people suffering sickened a seventeen year old as he walked behind two others: another teen about a year older and one that appeared to be a few years younger. "Kiactu, it pains me to see people like this," the former said. "This place just reeks of death and suffering. We have to do something to help!"

"We don't want to risk our cover," the silver blond responded. "Bear with it. This village will be liberated someday soon. It's better that we don't mess with them unless they massacre this place." He spoke too soon as villagers tried to uprise against the giant mecha as they were picking up bundles. The plan fell short as one of them raised their swords and obliterated the farmers. "Do we attack now?" the third person in their group, a young man with strawberry blond hair, asked. "Of course," Kiactu answered.

"**Getsuga Tensho **(**Translation: Heaven Piercing Fang!**)**!**"

"**Blaze Burst!**"

"**Bijuudama **(**Translation: Tailed Beast Bomb**)**!**"

The first one up was the strawberry blond, who swung the giant cleaver, the blade itself curved inwards at the backside of the tip similar to a trench knife on his back. A giant wave of white energy crashed into the mecha before a stream of light hit as well. The final attack was a black ball of energy that fully wiped the mecha out. "Nice going, Ichigo and Naruto," Kiactu told his companions as they watched many more mecha come to attack them. "Ichigo, time to unleash your Bankai! Naruto, go Bijuu Moodos!" The two did as instructed, the strawberry blond being covered in black energy as the sunny blond was covered in yellowish flames. The energies dissipated as the two stood there in different outfits.

Naruto, the sunny blond, was dressed in a shroud that parted down the middle and opened into a large full-length coat, revealing a black undergarment with magatama near his neck, whilst a seal that had numerous swirl-patterns that were located all over his body that also opened out into complete, dark circles. Ichigo's new clothing was a white undershirt beneath his black shihakushō, which was now open. It was held together by three "x"-shaped marks and ended in a number of coattails. He wore black gloves with white "x"-shaped marks that appeared on both the gloves and his forearms. The blade of his sword, which he called Tensa Zangetsu, was now much longer (about the same size as it was before he activated his Bankai) and more curved as it neared the tip, with three protrusions along the blunt end of the sword close to its tip. It looked a lot like a manji, only the tsuba was more curved and jagged. A black chain was connected to his hilt and glove.

Kiactu was bathed in black and white energy as the bandages on his right arm unraveled. His outfit also changed before transforming into a white jacket with attacked gloves. The jacket looked like something that would be expected from a sweat shop that had a surplus of zippers. His pants were held by a black belt and had a skirt-like extension on them (**AN: Think of Allen Walker's outfit when he battles Tyki Mikk but with opposite colors. I can't really describe clothing and just re-edited the description on both Narutopedia and the Bleach wiki**). The machine came to destroy the trio when Ichigo drew back Tensa Zangetsu. "**Kuroi Getsuga**," he said under his breath.

A black wave of energy erupted from Tensa Zangetsu, covering the village as it sliced into a ship. The attack could be seen in the villages over as the ship fell into the ground. "Naruto, you're up," Kiactu told the jinchuriki as Naruto nodded. The flames that licked around him grew to immense size before transforming into a giant fox with nine tails. The beast's tail stabbed through the ship once more, blowing it up and destroying it. The rest of the ships ran as they didn't want anything to do with the strange creature that appeared from the field.

In yet another village over, a ship was going over a field of rice. A farmer just so happened to be unlucky that he was even there and was eventually scanned along with the rice. However, the ship left almost as soon as it came, making the man take a deep breath as he looked on. It was a misty place with little to no water. People wore masks that covered their faces and shook sticks with bells on them, chanting as a girl held a crystal with a cat eye on it in front of her. She eventually stopped and put her hand behind her in a way for the little girl behind her to put little parchments on her hand. The crystal glowed as more and more parchments were placed into her hand until it finally stopped suddenly and made the young woman's eyes open. The girl stopped putting parchments in her hand as soon as the music stopped and was asked how many.

"Seven," she replied as the old woman to her side gave a speech. "Seven times with seven turns. Where the Dowsing Crystal points the water will be waiting," she said while praying. One of the villagers, a homely bald man with just a ponytail on his forehead, stated that he was worried when the old well dried up and thought it would be the end for the village. "The priestess has saved us," he said, digging into the ground when suddenly the little girl started crying. "What's wrong, Komachi?" the older one asked.

"My stomach's growling," the one named Komachi answered. The priestess smiled before the earth started to rumble and took the villagers' attention to a giant air craft like the one before. "What are they doing here now?" one of the villagers asked. "They know it's not harvesting season yet." Another commented that the bandits came for more than just food now. One of the villages before tried to rise up against them and had their women and livestock taken. An order was given out to take the priestess into the temple when a sudden jolt happened to the ship.

"**Kuroi Getsuga!**" a male's voice yelled out as a red-tinged black wave hit the ship. "**Kitsune Bi! **(**Translation: Demon Fox Fire!**)" another yelled as well before the remains were set ablaze by a black-tinged blue fire. Chains wrapped around the ship and began to crush it before the flames strengthened and burned the ship. The remains fell to the ground as the crowd of villagers looked to see who their heroes were. A gang of bandits had exited the crash site and decided that they wanted to be imbursed for the damages.

"Ichigo?" Kiactu asked of his partner. The Shinigami said nothing as he demonstrated an impossible feat of strength by grabbing the side of the burned ship. He ignored the burns it gave his fingertips before throwing the side over his shoulder and far off into the distance. "Gentlemen, that rubble was about three to six times the weight of our little crowd, including the villagers over there. Naruto, would you please be a dear and show them how fast you are?" Naruto said nothing as well before disappearing. A streak of light showed his path as he punched a bandit in the stomach, making the man cough up blood before slumping to the ground.

"Any questions?"

The bandits ran off, intimidated by the Namae no Nai and his companions. "AND STAY OUT!" Naruto yelled after the men. "Actually, BRING YOUR FRIENDS! WE COULD USE THE WORK-OUT!" He then turned to Kiactu and Ichigo. "We ooze epicness," he said as a smile was plastered on his face. The sound of little feet running across puddles made Kiactu turn his attention back to the villagers. She came to a screeching stop in front of the three and bent over huffing before staring up at the three. "Who are you?" she asked as she began to poke their legs.

"Could you . . ."

". . . Please stop . . ."

". . . Doing that?" They synchronized their words before the girl caught the hint. Kiactu cleared his throat and bowed. "We're just simple drifters, milady, who just so happened to passing through. I noticed these bandits and just decided to help fight them off." He rose his upper body back up before smiling at the priestess. "I apologize if we've done anything to ruin your . . . ceremony." He looked as the girl tried to touch Naruto's body. "Why is your friend on fire?" she asked, poking at the flames. "Does it hurt?"

"Komachi, it's rude to poke someone you just met," her older sister scolded her. "Especially since those new people saved our village."

"Let's get them to the temple!" one of the villagers cried out before the entire crowd ran to the three and escorted them to the shrine. Inside, the three were debriefed on what was happening. "It's almost harvesting season," a villager told them. "They were probably scouting to see how the rice was going and you just blew up one of their ships. More will come once they get word of their fallen ship and try to kill us all and take our women!" Kiactu, Naruto, and Ichigo collectively sweatdropped as the man began to freak out.

"Don't worry," Kiactu told him anyway. "It's going to take some sort of mecha army to even think they want to attack this village. The only thing is . . . we need more people to even think about a defense. Ichigo, Naruto, and I are not exactly defensive fighters. We really are more of people who rush into things without a plan or thought. To be more effective, we need more than just us."

"I get it," the village elder, a man whose eyebrows grew down the sides of his face, said. "You need samurai." Kiactu nodded as he folded his arms before looking the man in his eye. "I will need an effective unit to help guard you as well," he told them, the joking demeanor in his voice gone and replaced with that of a master strategist. "What do you say, Priestess? Would you like to journey outside of your village as well?"

He had a feeling that the girl would want to help. For some reason, he felt the signature of a mystical item that would be able to help on their quest on her person. "My name's Kirara," she said, a serious look on face.

"I'm Kiactu and this is Naruto and Ichigo."

"Are you mad?" the man from before yelled. "Samurai are expensive and the only thing we have is harvest. Do you think they would come just for a grain or two of rice?" Kiactu turned his attention to the man before saying coldly, "A samurai doesn't ask for anything in return. If you don't give him anything and he knows you're down in the dumps, he'll help anyway he can. Any buffoon can wield a sword. It's how he uses it who determines who he is."

"You seem to know a lot about the way of the samurai," the elder said. "Was there any connection to you and your people?" Kiactu stayed silent before Naruto spoke up. "There is none," he told them. Unlike with Kiactu, the people could tell when a serious look is on his face and when there is none. "I volunteer to go with them into the city," the man, who was arguing with the one who showed doubt, said aloud.

"I do as well," Kirara said, standing up only to be stopped by the elderly woman. "Kirara, please," she was told. "I must. I can use my talents to divine which samurai is most suited for saving us." She looked at the crystal in her hands, which made Kiactu's eyes widen underneath the mask as the item gave off magical energy. _That's the mystical item I was sensing_, he thought. His attention went back to another question about how they were going to trust the new people in their villages.

"I swear on my nindo," Naruto answered, "that I will bring back samurai before this village is turned to dust."

"I swear on my badge," Ichigo said, holding it up and allowing everyone to see.

"I swear on my pride as an ex-prince," Kiactu also said. That silenced everyone here. "You were a prince?" Kirara asked. "What happened?" The boy said nothing before standing. "That's a story for another time, priestess," he simply told her, the air growing cold and thickening before he left. They continued on the conversation as before. Kirara's eyes kept on the door as it was decided that she, along with Kiactu and the others, including the now-named Rikichi, would go find samurai to help protect her village. "Before the ears of rice began to bend, bring us samurai who can defend us," the elder told her. "Our hope now rests on that."

The group began their journey the morning after with Rikichi holding a sack of rice over his back. "I promise on my life that I will protect you both, priestess," he told the girl. "And we are grateful for that, Rikichi," Kirara told him. Kiactu and his group stayed silent as the leader walked before them while Naruto and Ichigo brought up the rear, both of them in their normal clothing (Ichigo's shihakushō being closed and Zangetsu in its massive Shikai form wrapped up on his back and Naruto with no cloak on, showing an orange and black tracksuit with the former color being the more prominent). The tails of Naruto's headband moved in the wind as they walked to the city.

"So, what about you three?" Komachi asked as she looked between Kiactu and his teammates. "Where are you from?" Naruto and Ichigo automatically told her that they were from far away in distant lands. "My village is called Konohagakure no Sato," Naruto told him. "It was technically called that because the village was surrounded by trees and Ichigo's from a little place called Karakuri Town."

"That is a strange name for a village," Kirara admitted. Ichigo shrugged before dropping the subject. Komachi looked towards Kiactu and was about to ask him about his comeuppance when Naruto told her to stay silent. "He doesn't really want to talk about his past with people he's barely even known," he explained. "Kiactu's what you might call an exile. He just up and abandoned his people because of their desire for power." _Not to mention that he killed them in cold blood_.

"An exiled prince?" Rikichi asked.

"Yeah," Ichigo told them, "something among those lines."

After a moment of silence, Kirara started up a conversation with her little sister. "You were very sweet to come along, Komachi," she said. "I wanted to go along too and see the whole rest of the world!" the little girl answered. "I just can't let you have all the fun on your own." Kirara commented about that being the reason she came along as the sextuplet walked on to the city.

The capital was a gigantic place with buildings turned sideways as if to say "FUCK YOU, LEANING TOWER OF PISA! WE ALSO CAN DEFY GRAVITY!" It was filled to the brim with people and Kirara tried to track the samurai using her Dowsing Crystal while Kiactu, Ichigo, and Naruto looked around for signs of danger. "This city is filled with negative emotions," Naruto whispered to Kiactu. "I can tell that some of these people want to go ahead and gut us to be done with it." Ichigo's grip on Zangetsu began to tighten as he looked at the people crowding around him.

"I'd rather be in Hueco Mundo," he muttered, Kiactu and Naruto being the only ones who heard. "Don't bring suspicion upon yourself," the former warned. "Like I said before, these guys will slit your throat with the very hand they used to help you up." That was when a thief struck, grabbing the bag on top of Rikichi's back and running off with it. Kiactu told Naruto and Ichigo to stay there while he and Rikichi raced after the thief. He jumped on top of the roofs before watching as the thief kept running, only to be taken down by a girl with a top ponytail. She tripped him up using some sort of stance and he ran off, the basket of rice forgotten.

"You're lucky I'm not turning you in!" she yelled as the man got away. Rikichi began to bow to the girl before noticing some cutthroats trying to steal the rice when suddenly a fox appeared before biting on the men's hands and forcing them to flee after being threatened by the girl's sword. She held that pose until the priestess showed up with Naruto and Ichigo. "I see you've finally decided to use that form, huh?" Naruto asked. "I was wondering why you didn't use it on our travels."

"Fuck you, Naruto," the fox said before being covered in a cloud of smoke. Kiactu appeared in its place. "It was the only for I could use that was fast enough to catch the thief." Komachi tried her best to pet his head, only for the boy to sweatdrop as she tried even harder. "You know, that doesn't work when I'm a human," he deadpanned.

"I know," Komachi told him.

They all picked up the rice, even the samurai who helped with the thief. She kept on glancing back to the mysterious boy before her, the one who transformed into a fox. "DON'T EVERYONE CROWD AROUND TO HELP US" he yelled at the crowd. They just stood there and watched as the group tried to pick up the rice.

"I was hungry and we almost lost it," Komachi cried as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Don't cry," Kiactu told her. "We got it back and I'm sure Naruto has his scent." Naruto shook his head and made the Namae no Nai's left eye twitch. Kirara sifted the rice before throwing the useless grains out and being handed another handful by Komachi. Eventually, they got it cleaned up and Kiactu thanked the samurai girl who helped. "You're going to embarrass me if you keep talking like that and it's a part of Bushido to help those in need." Kiactu nodded his head.

"So, what's with the giant curved sword on your strawberry haired friend's back?" she asked. Ichigo glared at the girl before going back to work. "It's . . . a blade that in a way was custom made for him," Kiactu answered. "When I say custom made, I mean _really_ custom made."

"And the one on yours?"

"Me and Knight Blade have been together since I was able to wield it at three," Kiactu answered. "It's always been by my side and eventually, it was joined by two others: Oblivion and Retribution." Once they were done, Kiactu lifted up the tail of his jacket, showing two L-shaped weapons on his back that resembled more technologically advanced pistols. Kirara looked at the girl before her and back down at her crystal, which did nothing but look the same before Katsushiro (that's the name of the girl; apparently her father wanted a boy and gave her a boy's name) appeared.

The seven now walked through the city, picking up the sights as Kiactu glanced at a man spitting fire. The fire apparently had traces of gunpowder in it that lit up the air as soon as the fire dissipated before they died out themselves. "Some advice: Don't walk around with your rice in plain view," Katsushiro told the farmers. "This city is filled with thugs and muggers who wouldn't think twice about stealing your basket." Rikichi was about to ask her something when he was told by Kirara that she wasn't the one to ask. Katsushiro walked on, leaving the six behind as she kept going forward. Kiactu also agreed with their statement as the samurai sort of felt a little . . . green around the edges.

They began walking through the crowd when Kiactu was overrun by a group of people going towards a commotion. "How ya feelin'?" Naruto asked, glancing down at the boy. "Not . . . a . . . word," Kiactu said as he laid face down in an imprint of his body. He tried to pry himself out, getting a helping hand from Ichigo who used Zangetsu as a lever. "Wonder what the commotion is?" Kiactu asked, his mask cracked from the force of the people running.

He then noticed Kirara and her group running towards the place as well. "What's happening?" he asked Naruto. "Apparently, Kirara's crystal began glowing and she ran after the people," the jinchuriki said. "They seem to be crowding around that shop." Kiactu then nodded before running towards the shop as well, followed by Naruto and Ichigo. Katsushiro was talking to the shop owner, who told her that a bandit had taken over his shop and kidnapped his baby. Kiactu was about to step in when a giant armored man stepped forward.

"Hold it there!" the man yelled. "You're going to need some muscle in business like this. I'll help you out."  
"He's an even more 'subtle' type than Naruto," Ichigo deadpanned, getting a "HEY!" from said boy as he glared at his teammate. Kiactu watched as the man moved and detected the smell of oil off of him. "I would think that's armor, but it's too oily? So, is his body artificial?" he asked himself. "Or is everything about him artificial?"

The machine drew his arm back before letting his sword flash, only for the metal to clash with that of another. Ichigo stood before the man, Zangetsu holding back the giant sword with nary a problem. "Are you all kinds of stupid?" he asked as the man (who introduced himself as Kikuchiyo) tried even harder to bring his sword down. "Wow, you're pretty strong!" the machine said as he tried to pressure Ichigo down even more. "But you have to get outta my way! I'm going to save this man's child!"

Ichigo sighed before finally adding pressure, destroying the shop in his power as he drove Kikuchiyo back with one swing. The now obvious machine was about to brag when he noticed the carnage that Ichigo had brought. Ichigo was about to turn his back on Kikuchiyo when he suddenly put Zangetsu behind him. "I want to fight you now," the machine said as steam pillared out of a pipe on his head. "It will prove my worth as a samurai."

Ichigo said nothing and brought Zangetsu back with both hands before slicing the robot's head off with one movement. "You bastard!" the thing yelled as its voice kept changing. Kikuchiyo's vocalizer was probably damaged in the attack. "That was a little excessive," Kiactu muttered aloud. "I mean geez. The least you could've done was gave him more of a challenge." The two didn't notice the man with the baby about to stab the two of them, but just threw their fists out there. He impacted against Kiactu's right and Ichigo's left fist, the two not even noticing they were being attacked.

Kiactu scoffed before turning his attention to the former samurai. "Now why would you go and attack a poor shop like this?" he asked. "Are you two samurai?" the man asked.

"Well . . . no," Kiactu answered. "We're kind of borderline mercs, only we do things to help people and not traffic drugs or women. Hell, we don't even take payments so I guess you could just call us nomads."

"Well then you know my plight!" the man yelled, going on about how the war left him starving and he didn't want to be a beggar on the streets. "You know, most of the military men I've ever seen after a war keep in the service of their leader," was Kiactu's reply. "You on the other hand seem like you were expendable. So I ask again, why are you attacking a poor shop?"

The man said nothing and was about to attack when a flash of golden light appeared before him, temporarily blinding the man and grabbing the child before handing it to the parents. It revealed Naruto in his **Controlled Tailed Beast Cloak** as he just stared at the man. "If I know you're type, you turned your back on the people you care about," the jinchuriki answered, all jokes gone from his voice. "You just chose the wrong time to attack."

The man smiled crazily before showing that he was covered in dynamite and held a lit torch. He was about to light himself up when Kiactu grabbed the hand that was about to light the fuses. A resounding crack got the man to drop the torch as he looked into the eyes of Kiactu's mask. He felt fear behind the eyes of the Namae no Nai and tried to squirm before using his sword to cut into Kiactu's arm holding him. The blade went through his arm and he let go, jumping back as the man grabbed the torch once more.

He was about to light it when the air grew dark and cold. Kirara recognized this feeling as the one Kiactu had the night the village came up with the idea to gather samurai and glanced as the boy's hair turned dark as night. "**Cursed Moon Seal unlocked**," a monotone voice came from Kiactu. "**Bloody Slicer.**" He ran towards the man who readied his sword once more. The next thing that happened surprised everyone as the blood on Kiactu's arm became a solid black blade.

It cut into the man's arm and made him yell in pain. What happened next surprised even he as a man dressed in a white cloak cut the fuses (which were now lit) and the man at the same time. "I would have killed the one in the armor myself," the man told Ichigo, "as he was the killer of my parents." Strangely enough, the man's presence felt like Zangetsu's did . . . before the whole turning young thing. "But I thank you."

"It was nothing big," Ichigo told him. "Just some machine thinking that it was stronger. I mean, unless you weren't really thinking about it, you wouldn't have known he was one." The samurai smirked before running off, Kirara's crystal acting up as soon as she began to run after the man. Kiactu and the others noticed before running after her as well. "I'm sure of it," she told them after being asked what was up, "he's the samurai for our village."

Kiactu smiled before speeding up. "Well then, we might as well help her catch up with the man." He transformed into a fox kit before running between her legs and transforming once more into a horse-sized fox with nine tails. Kirara began to cling to his fur as she wasn't used to riding bareback and the ride was bumpy. Kiactu tried to not notice, but that was exceptionally difficult when a girl was nude under her clothing and riding on your back. _Fuck my thousand years of abstinence,_ he thought to himself as they raced after the mysterious man.

**CHAPTER END**

Prince: What do you think? Was it to your liking? I started looking at Samurai 7 since it aired on Toonami and I have to say that it's not really that


	2. Paradise Stalled

**CHAPTER TWO: SAVING THE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS**

Prince: I think I botched that hostage scene. In the original episode, Kikuchiyo was supposed to cut it in half and expose the thief while Kambei dealt with it. You have to remember though that Ichigo is actually pretty strong even without his Shinigami powers, so the fact that even Kikuchiyo couldn't attack him is believable. In the end, it did even out with Kambei dealing with the samurai and the gang racing after the fleeing Kambei.

**CHAPTER START**

The clanking sound of heavy armor walking on metal floors could be found as a blacksmith worked on his latest master piece. The diminutive man turned his attention to the source to see the mechanical samurai from before walk in, holding his head in his hands before tossing it to the old man. "How are you doing today, Kiko?" he asked the head. "Getting ahead of yourself?" The head told the man to quit the antics and just repair him. "It's such a clean cut, too," the blacksmith admired. "Not at all like a street brawl."

"Of course not," the robot replied, his body holding his sword on its back. "It was a battle." . . . If you could call Ichigo lopping off the head of a machine just that easily a battle. "If I were to place bets, I'd say . . . samurai," the blacksmith asked. "Nope," Kikuchiyo replied. "It was a guy just wielding a giant black and white cleaver dressed in black robes."

"We lost him," Kiactu said. "Though I can sense that he's not far away, it's taking forever when I can't even catch a hold of his scent with all the smells blocking my nasal passage." He scratched his nose before thinking to himself. Kirara and the others just stood by his side as a machine drawn chariot drove past them. The thing stopped and Naruto glared at the chariot.

"I know," Kiactu told him. "The evil intent of the boy inside is so strong that it's permeating the air outside the hull." Kiactu's grip tightened on Knight Blade as he glared at the moving blinds. "Keep the girls out of their sight," he told Naruto and Ichigo. "I have a funny feeling that we'll be targeted after this is over with." Kiactu began to walk away from the group as Ichigo and Naruto also got the hint.

"He's going to go for the samurai," Ichigo explained. "We're to go find a place to stay before Prince Horndog back there decides that he wants a new bride."

"Men like that asshole give harem owners a bad name," Naruto growled with his eyes closed. If they didn't know him so much, they could've sworn that his eyes turned blood red underneath his lids. Naruto's whisker marks also seemed to deepen, giving him a more feral look about him. One eye did open however and the girls got a good look at the eye. His iris really had turned red in his anger.

"I apologize for you girls seeing that," Ichigo explained. "He only does that when he gets really excited." He sent a glare towards Naruto and the eye transformed back into his regular eye color.

Meanwhile, Kiactu had reached the samurai and learned that his name was Kambei, along with Katsushiro. He just stayed there as the girl begged the middle-aged man to teach her his way of the Samurai. "That's him!" Komachi said as the group had caught up with them.

"And you're a . . . samurai?" Kambei asked. "Judging by your age, you haven't fought in the war." Katsushiro told him he was correct as the man scratched his chin. "But it's the samurai's way of thinking to be strong and ready for war at any moment," she added. "It's clear that you and your sword are always on the battlefield in spirit." Kambei walked away before telling her to find someone else when Kiactu put his hand on the "older" man's shoulder. "I might not be as old as you are," he told him. "But I know about bonds between a master and a student." Beneath his mask he looked at Naruto. "They can be bonds stronger than anything. Whether it is the lecher's love of . . . whatever the hell you call the female form, or the ramen enthusiast's love of that dish."

"You're making fun of me and Jiraiya, aren't you?" Naruto asked. Kiactu shook his head. "Even though the man was a major pervert, he actually was pretty cool." His response made Naruto smile just the tiniest bit. "So let's have a duel," Kiactu wagered. "If I win, you help these girls over here and their village with their little . . . bandit problem and teach Katsushiro. If you win, I will gladly let you leave."

"Are you sure?" Kambei asked. "I do not wish to make a fool out of a youth such as yourself." Kiactu was bathed in a golden light before a slightly older Kiactu appeared. His mask was taken off, showing an above-average bishounen face. His right eye was covered by a silver-blonde bang and his right arm was wrapped in black gauze. "Am I old enough for you?" he asked, crossing his hand over his chest and unconsciously flexing. The girls had to avert their gazes, making both Naruto and Ichigo sweatdrop as they watched Kiactu unconsciously flirt with a priestess and a samurai apprentice.

"Fine then," Kambei told him, about to draw his sword. Kiactu just grasped the hilt of his cleaver and tightened the grip, unraveling his bandages and displaying a black blade with a purplish-red edge. The Namae no Nai vanished in a burst of speed, swinging his blade and barely getting to Kambei. The man had unsheathed his sword in the nick of time, too, as Kiactu's Knight Blade was stopped by his sword in its teeth. "**Shigure Souen Ryu First Style: Shajiku no Ame** (**Translation: Axle of Rain**)," Kiactu called as he separated from Kambei. He rushed back forward with a thrust.

"He's not even trying to come up with new techniques, is he?" Naruto sweatdropped and Ichigo did as well. The thrust was parried before Kambei attacked with a lunge, but that was stopped as well by Kiactu's right hand. The blade was caught in between his fingers and he took the time to kick Kambei away. "I wonder how you were able to change your age like that," Kambei asked as he once again met Kiactu in a deadlock. "If you were to join us, I would tell you," was Kiactu's answer before he almost sliced through his clothing.

The man jumped back before the giant blade could hit him and rushed Kiactu again, this time trying to get into what he thought was Kiactu's blindspot. However, he was stopped by the right arm. What made him wonder what was going on was when the arm made a clinging sound as if he hit against metal. "Prosthetic arm?" Kambei asked.

"Not quite." The bandages ripped, showing a demonic red arm that had overlapping segments at the joints (**AN: Think Sora's (Naruto) arm when it wasn't wrapped in bandages**) and black claws. A design of three eyes stood proudly on his hand, much like his mask did before, as well as twin glowing blue lines that interlocked and ended in scythe-like designs near the eyes (**AN: Again, like always, think of Asura's eyes from Soul Eater. I need someone to illustrate the arm. Anyone interested?**). Kiactu vanished once more before appearing behind Kambei's line of sight, the Knight Blade a centimeter away from slicing his throat. "I do believe this is my win," Kiactu told Kambei, who gave up.

"But I wonder how come you couldn't train her," the man asked. "In order to be able to use my style you literally have to die." Ichigo and Naruto nodded in sync. "That's true," the strawberry blond admitted. "That was the same way for Shinigami to gain their abilities as well."

"I was always told there was one Shinigami," Kambei said aloud. "Yeah . . . One per sector of the world," Ichigo told them. "I don't really count as one of the Shinigami from the Seiretei because of my human side. My father was a Shinigami who fell in love with a human woman who stayed out of the Seiretei when she was attacked by a Hollow to look after me and my two sisters." Kiactu waved him off as Knight Blade was rewrapped, telling him not to get into his life story just yet. "It just wouldn't do if people knew you already," he explained. "There are some secrets we take to our grave . . . or in my case, that carry with us for the rest of our life."

He looked down at his right arm and clenched it into a fist. "The only thing we have to pay you in is rice," Rikichi told Kambei. "It's about as much as you can eat. I know it's not much but what else do we have to offer? The bandits have overtaken our crops and nobody will help us except for these three gentlemen." Naruto, Ichigo, and Kiactu waved. Katsushiro volunteered only to be shot down by Komachi for being too under the belt.

The girl had been scolded by her older sister, though the damage was still done. "No," Katsushiro told Kirara. "I cannot take offense to something that is true. I may not have seen battle yet, but I'll do anything to help you." Kiactu stayed silent before looking away. "This is a long and perilous path you wish to take. The wrong step can leave you headless or horribly hurt. I've seen battle thousands of years before your ancestors' DNA were even though of in the gods' heads."

"And when he says thousands of years, we never take him to the Carbon dating buildings because he makes the machines blow up every time," Ichigo muttered. A tick mark appeared on Kiactu's forehead and he just sighed before looking for Kambei's reaction.

"Why me?" Kambei asked.

"You risked your life to save that baby's at the shop and I peered into your heart!" Kirara yelled. "You don't fool me! I know you have the talent and the principles to save us." Kambei explained that every battle he left he had lost. "I don't know what you're complaining about," Kiactu told him. "All those losses have made you the warrior you are today. If you had won every battle you were in, you'd be like the samurai we pass by daily: dumb as hell, obnoxious, stingy, and ready to endanger civilians. Hell, they already lost their minds; why not just lose their lives as well?"

"And there's the fact that you took down that burglar with ease," Naruto pointed out. "He was not the burglar," Kambei complained. "I'm merely an empty shell that has long served its purpose. I promise you, Katsushiro, if you go you will lose." He turned to Kiactu, Naruto, and Ichigo. "If these three are as powerful as you make them out to be, then they should be able to help."

"In actuality, there is all we can do before it becomes "interfering"," Kiactu explained. "As long as nobody gets hurt, we can't really do anything. It's a really sucky rule, but the gods are the ones who created it in order to stop our meddling." Kambei walked away, though Kirara tried to get him to stay only for the man to call her out. "You, girl," he said. "You're a miko mari (SP?), a water priestess, am I correct? Find better water somewhere else."

Kiactu closed his eyes. "That man seems to be down in the dumps because of his losses," he said aloud. "What he doesn't want to seem to remember is that you learn from your losses."

In a castle a few miles off of their position, the prince from before sat bored in a meeting. His overseer just glanced towards the young man and looked back. The meeting was over like that and the prince walked back to his room, complaining about how much of a bore that it was. "It was a chance for your father to motivate the guilds and increase the profits you enjoy. You will succeed your father in time, so it would be wise to take note."

The prince opened the door to find a room covered in girls. He sat down on the couch as one of them fed him grapes from the bowl and looked up at his handler. "Did you get the girl?" he asked, making the man grunt.

In a room hidden from the view of others, the girls (and Rikichi plus Kiactu, Naruto, and Ichigo) sat eating. Kiactu looked to see that the girls were eating millet again and sighed as he took a bunch of noodles into his mouth. "They're still eating that crappy rice substitute again," he growled. Katsushiro noticed this too and was explained to what it was. "Don't worry about us," Rikichi reassured.

They then went out to find more samurai. Kiactu, Naruto, and Ichigo split from the group to go on their own way. They jumped from roof to roof searching for many who didn't smell like they came back from a war with bad attitudes. "Hm . . ." Kiactu said, his ears picking up as they heard a man boast about being a samurai. He just rolled his eyes and kept on moving. Komachi and Rikichi had no such luck. The girl had ran into a samurai on accident (well, Rikichi did as she was on his shoulders and covered his eyes. Kirara and Katsushiro stayed still as Kirara tried to use her Dowsing Crystal.

"So, how do you know Kiactu?" the latter asked.

"He, Ichigo, and Naruto cut down a bandit ship before it could reach our village," Kirara answered. "They used swordsmanship as well as the power of mystics. Ichigo even somehow shot a wave of energy at the ship using his sword. We all thought they were gods for a minute there."

Some samurai even came by for food, as was the case with one man who sat there eating and told them to wait before giving them an answer. Automatically Kiactu knew he was going to say no and made his decision for him by smacking the rice out of his hands. When the man tried to protest, he suddenly felt darkness rolling off Kiactu and wisely left. He would later swear he could see a three-eyed creature's silhouette in the background of Kiactu, glaring down and slowly opening its mouth like it was going to eat the man.

The next samurai threatened to beat the girls for mocking him after eating their food and was kindly escorted out when Zangetsu, a trench knife, and Knight Blade were pressed against his throat (Knight Blade and Zangetsu on both sides of his neck and the trench knife against his jugular vein). He could feel the darkness wafting off all three of the blades' owners as he was kicked out.

"Greedy bastards," Kiactu growled. "They only come because of the free food you guys give out." It took him a while to rewrap Knight Blade while Ichigo just left Zangetsu there. The next visitor was escorted out when a pissed off Kiactu used Knight Blade's scythe form to threaten the man when he told the girls that he didn't work for food. "Can you enlighten me?" Kiactu asked as a tick mark was on his forehead. "You said that you wouldn't work for food. So why the hell did you waste our time by eating and then trying to run off?" The scythe was pressed enough to where it drew a bit of blood.

After the almost killing of a certain samurai who was not to be named, their day of searching for samurai came to an abrupt end. "How could they even call themselves samurai?" Katsushiro asked. "Well, they seem like pretty smart samurai to me," one of the men in a cage behind them answered. "You think you'll find men crazy enough to die for you? You might as well hang yourselves now." The air grew dense as everyone (excluding his teammates of course as they knew he could get this angry) glanced towards Kiactu. He had taken his mask off and moved the bang out of his eye to get his point across.

A pissed look was on his face as his right eye glared at the men, showing a black sclera with a red rippled iris and a white cross as its pupil. The eye was narrowed as it glared towards the men. "They wouldn't have to die if they knew how to get the gods damned job done," he said in an emotionless but cold tone. "I need to go for a walk."

"Wait," Kirara told him. "The rice hasn't bent yet, so there's no time to be desperate." Kiactu said nothing. "I still need to go for a walk. If I don't, someone in here is going to hit the ground dead." He glared at the two men who tried to put their input in. They both quieted down after that.

Back at the castle, the prince ate breakfast in his room. "I found your peasant girl," his handler told him. "She is feeding rice to rogue samurai." The young prince grunted in thought as his concubine wiped his mouth. Later that day, the prince had found Kirara. "I had a dream about you the other day," he told the girl. Once she even showed hint that she was interested, he introduced himself. "My name is Ukyo. I'm the magistrate's son." He gave the girl roses and explained that the dream stated the flowers bloomed for her and that if she didn't accept them, they would cry.

Kirara accepted them anyway, though she was a little skittish. "What is this really about?" she asked. "You make me sound so wicked," Ukyo told her. "The truth is, I heard about your search." His interest peaked Kirara and she showed it by looking at him with a dumbfounded glance. "I know the mightiest samurai of all, but his skills have made him something of a legend here. He avoids going out in public, so he asked me to bring you to him."

"So that's how you bring girls into your harem," a voice said all around them. '_Kiactu?_' Kirara asked as she looked around.

"You give them empty promises and when you get them back to your castle, they stay with you or have something done to their families if they don't," it said as it got even darker. "People like you make me wish all humans would die, you know?" Kiactu suddenly appeared right next to him, holding his handler by the throat as no emotion could be felt in the air. Kirara could feel the coolness in the air and felt goose bumps all the way up her body.

Kiactu would've crushed the man's jugular if Ukyo didn't grab Kirara. He ran off with the girl soon after and Kiactu growled as he let the man in his grasp go. The man raced off after Kirara and Ukyo. The Namae no Nai transformed into his fox form as he ran after the chariot carrying the three, all the while trying to get in contact with Naruto and Ichigo. "The prince got Kirara," he simply told them. "I'm following after, but won't be able to catch up. Get the crystal to Katsushiro and tell her what happened."

Later, Komachi was with the mecha that attacked (and halfway destroyed, thanks to he and Ichigo) the building with the burglar a day ago. "You haven't seen Lady Kirara, haven't you?" Katsushiro asked as she walked inside the building. Naruto and Ichigo came tumbling in before impacting against the wall opposite from the door. "Ow," Naruto said, rubbing his nose. "Kirara's been kidnapped!"

"Was there a coach nearby you two?" one of the men asked.

"What do you know of this?" Katsushiro asked.

"I've heard stories of young women being taken to Paradise," was the answer. Naruto and Ichigo exchanged glances. "Of course," Naruto stated. "Kiactu warned us about the prince getting too anxious." Ichigo nodded in affirmative. "That man actually gives bad names to harem-owners everywhere," the Shinigami answered. He sighed before scratching his head. "The only thing we can do is use your ability to sense negative emotions to catch up with the coach."

"Does this mean you're going to do that flying thing?" Naruto asked.

"IT'S NOT FLYING! IT'S HOVERING!"

"Hovering, flying," Naruto called out. "They're all the same thing. Besides, that is flying when your body is at an angle in the sky and you're propelling forward." Naruto shook his head. "But that isn't what's important right now. We have to go save Kirara."

Said girl had been knocked unconscious by the handler in order to get on the coach and was starting to wake up when she took notice of her surroundings. "Why hello there," the prince greeted the girl as she sat up and glared at him. "You don't have to be so frightened. I'm only going to let you join a Special Corps. It's every girl's fantasy."

"I don't know what kind of fantasy you're talking about, but it sure in hell isn't a girl's!" Kiactu's voice yelled out as the back of the coach was blown to pieces by his attack. He was back in human form as he propelled through the air and drew back his fist. The fist made contact with the prince's face and knocked him to the front, hitting his head against the wall, and knocking him unconscious. The handler was about to attack when he was defeated just as easily with a well-timed punch to the stomach. Kiactu knocked the wheat out of his mouth with an uppercut that knocked the man unconscious.

Kiactu stared out the giant hole in the back of the coach with Kirara in his grasp. "Do you trust me?" he asked, turning his mask to face the girl. "I . . . I do," she answered. He smiled and prepared to jump. "That's good enough for me."

He jumped from the moving coach and landed on the ground, rolling to a stop as Ukyo woke up from his sudden meeting with the metal. He ordered his mercenaries to take care of Kiactu and glared at the Namae no Nai, smiling as his enemy was surrounded. Kiactu glanced all around him at the people, who steadied their weapons and smiled creepily at him.

"Well, I guess there's nothing for me to do but to . . . CATCH, NARUTO!" Kirara grew confused at Kiactu's statement until he threw her off the cliff. She screamed before being caught by another man. This one was covered in golden flames (which didn't burn her, she noticed) and took the same shape Naruto's clothing without his cloak.

"Oh look," Kiactu said. "I'm unarmed. Like that's going to stop you from trying to kill me." It didn't and they attacked. Kiactu's hands flashed through the air as their weapons clanged against his right arm. "**Grimm Claw**," Kiactu called out. The bandages on his right arm disappeared in a puff of smoke and his arm showed that it was a normal arm for a split second.

The arm turned red and segmented at the joints with black claws for nails. The arm began to glow before slimming out and elongating. Kiactu dragged his arm along the ground before picking it up, the glowing arm turning into a myriad of colors as it cleaved right through the first mercenary. Kiactu grabbed his top half before throwing it into the others, soon followed by his lower half before rushing into them.

He pulled back his **Grimm Claw** and threw it out there once again, piercing a seemingly human mercenary through his torso and bent his fingers. Kiactu then pulled, showering the front in blood and gore before turning his attention of the fully obvious robot of the group. The arm flew through the air as it grabbed the robot's head and squeezed. Kiactu heard the crumpling of metal as it was pressed and pulled, separating the crumpled remains of the head from its shoulders and crushing it some more.

Naruto set Kirara down and told her to move it while he and Kiactu took on more of the mercs. Of course, there probably would none when Kiactu was done with them. But even the Namae no Nai seemed to be having a bit of trouble as **Grimm Claw** was only active for so long. Kiactu growled as he was surrounded once more before noticing Naruto. That sent a smile into his face and he watched as Naruto jumped into the air. "Let's hope that one of my Strong Souls is in this group," Kiactu said as his friend jumped into the air and transformed into a ball of light.

"This is the last Strong Soul we have to get," Naruto told him. Once the light died down, it showed that he had separated into two weapons: a giant cleaver with nine swirling tails near the hilt of the blade and a katana with an orange swirl on its bluish-black blade. Kiactu swung the sword, cleaving through one of the mercenaries before sighing and glaring at the rest of them.

Kiactu then smirked before his face lost its expression. Once another came towards him, he dodged before allowing the katana to block one of the mercenaries' attacks before using the cleaver to slice him in half. ". . . Huh, no strong soul," Kiactu mentally said, dodging the next attack before stabbing the cleaver into the ground. He jumped onto its hilt before facing down at the fact he was surrounded. A smirk appeared on his face as a thought occurred.

"Time for that Bankai training to come to use," he said, the katana disappearing as the cleaver began to change shape. In its place was a golden katana with spirals and lines going down the blade. On its guard was the head of a fox. Its hilt was golden with white diamonds going up the side. "Ōkitsuneha," Kiactu named it before jumping off the hilt headfirst. He righted himself in the air before grabbing the hilt and yanking it out of the ground.

Kiactu sliced through the first enemy that tried to attack, showing that the blade was a lot deadlier than its form before. The sound of something big impacting the ground could be heard, like a body hitting and Kiactu glanced behind him to see the metal samurai from before coming to the rescue. ". . . Well, I guess I needed some assistance," he said, scratching the back of his head. "I wonder where Ichigo is."

He was dutifully answered when the shout of "**GETSUGA TENSHOU** (**Translation: Moon-Fang Heaven Piercer**)!" could be heard. More of the mercs were killed when a giant wave of black energy flowed through the air. "You're getting old, Kiactu," Ichigo said as he landed next to his boss. "I thought you would've been kicking more ass than this."

"Well excuse me for having limiters so things like random people dying from exposure to my powers don't happen," Kiactu said. "Besides, I took down a lot more than you did with that Piercer of Heaven attack." Ichigo's face steeled as he thought of why Kirara was no longer here.

". . . Where is she?"

"Katsushiro got her. I think there was more than just this here so go check." He watched as Ichigo flew off before turning his attention back to the mercenaries. "Guess I'm going to have to take you guys seriously now. **Bankai!**" Kiactu was engulfed in a plume of smoke.

Ichigo flew through the air when he felt a major increase in Kiactu's spiritual pressure. '_He's overdoing this fight_,' he thought. '_Kiactu could've defeated them using just __**Grimm Claw**__. He's just showing off his abilities now. I guess when you have enough to spare, you can use your power however the hell you want._'

With Kikuchiyo, the android was having fun fighting the enemy when he suddenly felt power radiating from the young man not that far away. '_What the hell?_' he asked himself. '_This man . . . What is he?_' The screens showed an imminent threat that he possessed. The mercs were feeling a little apprehensive about battling him, but they were getting paid, so they tried to attack him anyway only to get pushed back by the shockwave of his technique.

Once the smoke cleared, it showed Kiactu in a black short sleeved outfit. Going down his arm was a golden greave that showed much of the skin of his arm and hand, though at the tips of each finger was a claw that looked razor sharp. Even more of the smoke drifted away, showing a gigantic nightmare creature behind him. It was shaped like a fox, only its hide seemed to be made of bone. The creature had red eyes and a ferocious row of teeth that glared down at the mercs as if they were its next meal. "**Idaina Ōkitsuneha** (**Translation: Great King Fox Blade**)," Kiactu said. The creature roared as it raised its head in the air.

With Kirara and Katsushiro, the girls were trying their best to run when Katsushiro suddenly stopped. '_What is this . . . power?_' she thought, glancing back at the fight. Kirara's thoughts were the same. Whatever was making them stop had to be extremely powerful. Katsushiro then remembered what she was supposed to be doing and ran.

The two were then stalled by a group of mercenaries who weren't fighting Kiactu. "Hey there, cutie," one of them said as a deep smile crossed his features. "Give us the girl and we'll let you join our group." Katsushiro said nothing, pushing Kirara behind her and placing her hand on the hilt as if she was going to draw the blade. "Go around me, Kirara-sama," she said. "I'll deal with these people."

"I have to commemorate you, girl, but there's no way you can take on all of us," another one said.

"But I can," Ichigo's voice said as his figure dropped in between the three. "Let them go."

"And who's going to stop us? You?" the merc from before said. "You're just one person. What's one fighter going to do against a group of fighters?" Ichigo frowned at being thought of as weak before he blurred out of vision. The mercenaries were on their guard, but it didn't do much to help when Ichigo could take out a good group of them before flashing back out of their range of sight.

"I'm not as good as some people, but I am a good user of **Shunpo** (**Translation: Flash Step**)." His voice was thrown around as he attacked the mercs. "Katsushiro, don't lose her no matter what." The girl samurai nodded before running off. She stopped, looking back towards Ichigo and watching with Kirara. "Kirara-sama, go ahead without me. Run until you find someone who can help us out."

Kirara nodded before running off, leaving Katsushiro to glance back towards Ichigo before making a decision. Drawing her sword, she jumped into the fray.

Kirara ran before noticing that some of the mercs broke off from the group and chased after her. She ran through a drainpipe before noticing a fall at the end. Kirara glanced around before she noticed Kambei walking through the streets and made up her mind to jump. Once the samurai noticed her, he jumped as well, catching her before they both fell into the empty chasm below.

**CHAPTER END**

Prince: I know that ending was a little rushed . . . and Kiactu could have gone through them just using his** Grimm Claw**, but I wanted to go ahead and finish the chapter because it was getting a little boring. Well, this (along with Taming a Forgotten) is now posted and will be updated from time to time as I've gotten a little off-track since gaining my Kyocera Hydro. I've actually grown a bit bored with Mahora no Kitsune-sensei, though I will try my best to complete it or die trying. The bathing chapter is pretty difficult to do, though, so don't rush me.


End file.
